Mi 8 vs Mi 8 Explorer Edition vs Mi 8 SE: What’s Different?

Xiomi has recently announced the Mi 8-series Smartphones along with MIUI 10 interface. But the highlight was the announcement of three different variants, which include the Mi 8 variant, Mi 8 SE and the Mi 8 Explorer Edition. However, only the Mi 8 is expected to be launched in select global markets, including India soon whereas the rest are currently available in the Chinese market exclusively.

When we talk about Smartphones the foremost thing that comes to our mind is the pricing; The Mi 8 price starts at approximately Rs 28,550 for 64GB storage. The 128GB variant is priced at approximately Rs 31,550, whereas with 256GB storage it will cost approximately Rs 34,750. On the other hand, the Explorer Edition is priced at approximately Rs 39,000. The Mi 8 SE version is priced at around Rs 18,900 for 4GB RAM, and the higher variant with 6GB RAM will cost you about Rs 21,150.

Next, let’s talk about the body of the phones. While the Mi 8 variant and Mi 8 SE variant feature a glass back, the Explorer Edition offers a clear rear glass panel. Moving on to the displays, Mi 8 and it’s Explorer Edition feature a 6.2-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with 1080 x 2248 resolution and 18.7:9 aspect ratio. The Mi 8 SE variant, on the other hand, has a 5.88-inch AMOLED panel with the same 1080 x 2248 Full HD+ resolution and 18.7:9 aspect ratio.

Another major point of difference among these smartphones is the hardware; the Explorer Edition of Mi 8 and the Mi 8 smartphones run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset. The Mi 8 includes 6GB of RAM and the Explorer Edition comes with 8GB of RAM. The Mi 8 SE, on the other hand, runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 710 chipset. It is available in 4GB RAM with 64GB storage and 6GB RAM with 64GB storage.

When it comes to software, all the three smartphones will feature the Android 8.1 Oreo-based MIUI 10.

Talking about the camera, both the Mi 8 and its Explorer edition carry vertically stacked dual-rear camera combining 12MP resolution each. The camera on the Mi 8 and its Explorer Edition comes with dual-LED flash support and includes 2x optical zoom, 4-axis OIS, dual-pixel autofocus, AI portraits and AI scene detection.

Each phone also comes with some unique features that differentiate them from one another. For starters, Xiaomi Mi 8 supports dual frequency GPS navigation for accurate location tracking. On the other hand, Explorer Edition of Mi 8 features 3D face recognition similar to iPhone X’s Face ID system. The phone has a fingerprint sensor in the display area and it is the only smartphone in the market to come with pressure sensitivity as a security measure.

These smartphones vary slightly in terms of their battery capacity. The flagship Mi 8 packs a 3,400mAh battery underneath its glass back panel. The Explorer Edition carries a slightly smaller 3,000mAh battery. Finally, Mi 8 SE has a battery specification of 3,120mAh.